


Ojïshe

by GlitchEnder



Category: Don't Starve (Video Game), Original Work
Genre: Abuse, Angst, As Seen on Quotev, Conlang, Explicit Language, F/F, Fade to Black, Fictional language, Fire, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Multi, Not Beta Read, Self Harm, Stalking, Suicide, The Constant (Don't Starve), The chapters are really short I'm soRRY, Toxic Relationships, the setting is the Constant the rest is ocs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:13:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 13,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27530566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitchEnder/pseuds/GlitchEnder
Summary: The six Wishmakers are sent to an abandoned house in the middle of the woods by Sci, a Lesser Creator. When Ivils pulls a switch, the gods are sent to The Constant as part of a "psychological experiment." With an increasing sense of dread and realization that they have been reduced to mortals, only time will tell what happens between them.
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s), Original Character/Original Character, Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character





	1. Begin

**Author's Note:**

> Character Descriptions can be found here: https://www.quotev.com/GlitchEnder/journal/6993931

An old house stood tall, despite being in ruin. The wooden walls were starting to give way. The smell of mold permeated throughout the air, overpowering the scent of rain. The old flooring was creaking and threatening to give out under the curious wishmakers. All six of them stayed close together so as to not get lost. They shone little beacons of light through their hands like magically powered flashlights. “Ivils, why are we here again?” the one sporting a wig asked, “This place’s got bad vibes. We shouldn’t be here.”

”It won’t be long, On,” Ivils, the well dressed one, spoke, “Sci said She wanted me to check this place out. She said there’s a lever around here She wants me to flip.”

On gasped, “Creator told you?! Ivils, you know She’s up to something! Haven’t I told you about Her before?! She—“

”Yes, I know. I’m sorry you two had to go through that,” Ivils gestured to On and the other girl next to her. “But this place has me interested. I feel like I’ve been here before.”

A man in a cloak and mask piped up, “Yeah, I’ve been getting that too. It’s just a sense of deja vu for me, though.”

Ivils nodded, “Let’s keep going. I think She told me the lever is in the attic.” The rest of the group followed behind with the exception of the two girls. On looked at the other, shyer one and held her hand to calm her down.

”Should we follow them, Ivesa?” Ivesa looked around the house nervously. She stared at the door for a few seconds before On repeated herself again. ”Do we follow those brainlets?” On said with a grin, trying to ease Ivesa’s tension. Ivesa smiles softly and gives a light nod.

A voice from upstairs chimed, “Hey! You coming?”

”Coming, Sympathy!” On exclaims. The girls held hands and ascended the stairs. What greeted them was an old room containing a single chair, a radio, various beakers; flasks; and test tubes, several tables, and a seemingly untouched machine in the middle. A sense of dread overcomes the sextet as they approach the odd contraption in the center of the room. It was made of wood and scrap metal, but it looked like the elements weren’t able to eat away at its foreboding presence. A single lever with a shiny, bulbous red tip jutted out of the left side of the front of the machine. Gears and pulleys were visible from the sides of the machine, giving it a bizarre steampunk vibe.

”Iv, let’s go.” The masked man insisted, grabbing Ivils’s wrist. Ivils resisted and pulled his hand back, inspecting the entire room himself. The whole thing seemed way too familiar to him and the rest of the group. Everyone’s eyes were blinking the same olive green color. He shone the spotlight on the machine’s lever. The sight of the lever alone sent shivers down his spine. In a way, it excited him.

”I at least want to see what it does, Off. What’s the worst that could happen?” Ivils reached for the lever and held the bulb end of it. “I mean, it’s not like we could die, right?” Ivils confidently pulled the lever down before the entire group could stop him. The machine clicked and clacked as gears turned and pieces of it began to move. Lightning struck right outside the attic window, revealing that the silhouette of the machine formed a wicked grin. The group tried to flee as they heard the radio in the room begin to cackle wickedly. Shadowy hands and tendrils grabbed at the wishmakers and pulled them into the black void in the floor before they could leave the attic. What was once a room filled with screams fell into an eerie quiet as rain pelted on the rotting wood roof of the house. The lever on the machine slowly clicked back into its “up” position, as if it was awaiting its next victim.


	2. Trapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAY 1

Spinning...

”Hello...”

Falling...

“For as long as you’re here...”

Sinking...

”You’re no longer gods...”

Deeper...

”The experiment will now begin.”

Sympathy jolts awake from the sudden sensation of falling. He sits up and takes a look at the area around him. The overwhelming scent of cinnamon filled the air from what appeared to be a cloud of red smoke that was quickly dissipating into the air. It only took a gentle breeze to blow away the smoke and the scent away. No one else seemed to be nearby, strange. He gets up and gets a better look at his surroundings. He was in a grassy, green field. Evergreens could be seen in the distance. Not too far from him was a shiny stone. Sympathy moves closer to the rock and picks it up. It was already fashioned to a point and had a silver sheen to it. He runs his finger along the edge and recoils as he accidentally cuts his finger. One word came to his mind, _flint_. He didn’t think he’d seen flint before, but the thought made sense to him. Flint...

Maybe he could make an axe? A few feet away from him was what looked like a small, dried out bush. He gathers a small bundle of sticks and picks out the sturdiest ones of the bunch. A few minutes of brainstorming later and he has a crudely made axe. Sympathy holds his new weapon and tool and continues to look around. “Hello?” He calls out. No response. Damn it. While he was thinking about who else was here, he wondered about the voice he heard before waking up. Who was it? He didn’t recognize the female voice. Maybe it was Sci? Sympathy sighs as he approaches a relatively small Evergreen.

On scrambles to her feet after the same feeling of falling. She quickly looks around, ready to attack whoever was near her. No one. She glances over the rocky ground that surrounded her. She could smell cinnamon. _Sci was here_ , she thought. There was nothing but boulders both near her and in the horizon. Some of them glittered in the morning light. Cautiously, her heels click forward along the stone ground. She didn’t see any plants, only rocks. No plants, no food.

As she walked, something tall and black made itself known in her peripheral vision. It was huge, but not wide huge. It was tall. _Really_ tall. A freakishly tall bird with an eye that looked like it was most of its body. Despite its eye, it hadn’t noticed her. Hiding behind a boulder, she could see a small nest. A blue and white spotted egg sat in the middle of it. _Jackpot_! She looks to her left, then to her right, and then behind her. Her three eyes were dead set on that egg. On takes a deep breath, praying that her wig didn’t fly off, and makes a dash for the egg. The bird notices and produces an eerie cry from its lilac beak. On snatches the large egg from the nest and makes a run for it. While On was fast, the tallbird was undoubtedly faster, almost able to peck her with its powerful beak. On holds the egg with one arm as she attempts to direct a powerful beam of disorienting light back at the bird. When she still heard the stomping of the bird’s talons against the rock, she knew something was up. She tried to procure her set of wings to no avail. Eventually, the bird gave up as she approached a golden field of grass. On dives into the grass and hides, still holding the egg. Cautiously, she peeks over the tall grass to see the tallbird stomping away into the distance. Thank god.

She places the egg beside her as she tried to replicate the same powerful beam of light she tried to manifest in the chase. Despite her efforts, she could only form a ball of light the size of her fist. Something was definitely wrong. Whoever brought her here, who could only be Sci, clearly thought this through and weakened her magic. She hisses some curses through her teeth and picks up the egg once again, treading further through the field.


	3. A Pair of Duets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAY 1.5

“Do you know why Creator wanted you to find that lever?” Ivesa asks, “I find it strange why She would ask you to do it and bring the rest of us with you.”

Ivils sighs, pausing his speed-walk for a second and looking down at the ground. “I don’t know. My guess is as good as yours is.”

”And you said this place was...?”

”The Constant.” Ivils says, resuming his speed walk through the evergreen forest. “I’ve been here over a century ago. This universe was brand new at the time. Not much was there except for what you see here now. Forests, grasslands, plains, swamps... its an unforgiving wilderness.” He looks back at Ivesa and smiles warmly. “Thankfully, I remember just about everything about this world. I assure you, you’re safe with me.”

Ivesa smiles and looks away. “Thank you, Ivils-oji.”

”You, uh, don’t have to use those honorifics...” Ivils rubs the back of his neck with a glove-covered hand.

“Sorry...”

The pastel palette pair continue to trot through the woods. Crows caw ominously and redbirds look on out of curiosity. The dark green grass gives way to a much friendlier bright green turf. Ivils adjusts his glasses and squints into the distance. As suddenly as he stopped to look ahead, he beams.

”Pigmen!” Before Ivesa could question him, Ivils grabs Ivesa’s wrist and pulls her along. They run through the grass and, sure enough, a few small huts are constructed in a cleared part of the grassland. As they arrive, Ivesa pulls her wrist back and sticks close by Ivils’s side as they walk past the bipedal pigs. “Don’t worry, they won’t bite. They’ll actually come in handy later.” He continues to lead Ivesa through, and eventually out, of the village.

Off had, unfortunately, found himself in the middle of a swamp. The awful smell harassed his nose and the trailing end of his black cloak was getting stickier by the minute from the mushy purple ground. “Stupid Ivils and his stupid ideas,” he grumbles to himself, “I even told him not to and he did it anyway. Somehow stupider than me.” As he dredged through the mush, he notices a white figure in the distance, sitting against a dead tree. It was Hopeless, the sixth person with them who was yet to say a word. Off adjusts his glasses behind his mask and runs as fast as possible. Spiked tentacles sprouted from the ground and attempted to swat at Off before he dashed past them. “Hopeless!” Off shouts, frantically waving at the other man and finally free from the confines of the swamp. “Hopeless! Holy shit, you’re alive!”

The pale-cloaked wishmaker looks up at Off with tired eyes, then stares back at the cliffy shoreline in front of him. “Guess I am.”

Off has a seat next to him and stares out at the shoreline with him. The two share a mutual moment of silence, taking in the scenery. The trees blowing in the breeze, crows cawing, and ocean waves roaring against the cliffside. It takes a few minutes for Off to speak up once more. “Should we get going?” Hopeless sighs and ignores his question, continuing to stare out at the ocean. “Hopeless?”

Hopeless slowly stands up and cracks his neck from side to side. “Let’s go.” He says. Off jumps to his feet and starts walking along the coast, Hopeless following just behind. Occasionally, the rhythmic thumping of footsteps behind Off would slow to a halt. Off would stop to turn around and see Hopeless looking out at the coast again. At first, this would be a brief pause in their journey, but as they moved further, the pauses would get progressively longer and longer. On one of these trances, Off approaches Hopeless and snaps his fingers. Hopeless regains focus.

”What are you doing? Don’t you see we’re in trouble now?!” Off yells.

”Sorry,” Hopeless flinches and has another look out on the ocean, “it’s very pretty.”

”Sorry?! We’re here, in the middle of nowhere, with no clear way of escape, and with some cryptic bullshit about an experiment! We’re up to our necks in shit!”

Hopeless lowers his head. “Off, calm down. If this is a dangerous place, we’re capable of dealing with it on our own.”

Off holds his head in frustration. _The audacity_ , he thinks. “Didn’t you wake up to some girl talking to you? Don’t you remember what she said?”

Hopeless, on the verge of tears from Off’s yelling, mumbles, “No?”

The black cloaked one sighs and puts his hand over his face. “She said “as long as we’re here, we’re no longer gods” or something like that.” He takes another deep breath and rubs his eyes under his mask. “Sorry.”

The white cloaked one dries his eyes and puts a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay,” he croaks, “Let’s keep going.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -oji (oh-jih): honorific referring to someone as a god (masc)


	4. Reunite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUSK 1

Bright reds and pinks ignite the sky as Sympathy travels along a dirt path. While he wanders, the grass turns dark and thicker and the shade of the evergreens darkens his vision further. Crows are still cawing at him, but the forest seems unnaturally dead to him. A strange noise from behind startles Sympathy, causing him to drop his well-used axe. He grabs at it in the air, but he misses it every time, even nicking his hand in the process. He turns around to see what the source of the gurgled hissing noise was. In front of him was the biggest spider he’d ever seen. The wishmaker freezes and stares at the black spider the size of his head, no, twice the size of his head. The spider stares back at Sympathy’s three eyes with eight cold, dead, white eyes. No movement is made from either party. Suddenly, a loud, rustling of trees and bushes come from the right of the spider. The spider turns to face the source of the noise. Whatever it was, it was glowing. Sympathy takes this opportunity to pick up his axe, ready to swing at whatever was headed his way. A black and white blur darts from out of the trees and attacks the spider. A small, glowing halo reflects a small amount of light from chin-length black hair. As the dark mass stabs the spider with a sharp spear, the arachnid releases a dying hiss as its body mysteriously evaporates. Sympathy lowers his axe, recognizing his not-so-mysterious savior.

”On?”

On looks up and moves her hair out of the way, revealing her three eyes and glasses. “Yeah. I’ve been chasing that little fuck for a while now.”

It doesn’t take long for Sympathy to notice that On looked pretty set on tools and materials. Of note was a backpack made with woven grass. “Where’d you get the backpack?”

On wipes some sweat off her brow and slings her backpack over one shoulder. “Dead guy. I got this huge egg, too. The mother almost got me.” She takes a large blue and white spotted egg out of the bag. The halo on her head moves above the egg to show off its size and color. “Any discoveries you’ve made?”

”Not really.” Sympathy says, taking out some logs. “My arms are sore from chopping trees all day. At least we’ll have firewood for several days.”

On stares wide-eyed at Sympathy. “Where the hell did you pull that out of?”

Sympathy stares blankly for a few seconds before putting the logs away. “What?”

”That! Where did you put those logs away?” On approaches Sympathy and inspects him from a distance on all sides. “Where’d they go?”

Sympathy shrugs and pulls out his logs again out of seemingly thin air. “You mean you didn’t know about this?”

On stares flabbergasted. She takes out some grass she’d gathered and tries to do a similar thing to what her fellow wishmaker did, which was putting the grass behind her back and “dropping” it. Sure enough, the grass tufts disappeared. A sort of mental note is made in her head. _Ten grass_... ten grass? Ten sounded about right. Ten what? Didn’t matter to her too much. “Huh... you’re not as dumb as I thought you were.” She chuckles.

A faint sound further in the woods silences Sympathy before he’s able to respond. It was definitely going to be some snarky comeback, but a lingering sense of dread that overlooked the island had heightened their senses. A few seconds of listening pass and On’s ears twitch. She pulls her spear out of the ground and runs in the direction of the sound. “On!” Sympathy cries, and follows behind her.

The two gods rush through the forest. Sympathy stumbles a few times in order to catch up to On. The talking they heard was getting louder. Soon enough, the source of the voices became undoubtedly clear as they reached another dirt path. It was Ivils and Ivesa, their images made clearer with a torch Ivils was holding. “Ivesa!” On calls out to Ivesa.

”On!” The other girl cheers, dashing towards her. They slam into each other in a tight hug.

”I was so worried about you! I’m glad you’re okay!” On says, pecking Ivesa on the cheek. Ivesa giggles shyly and pulls away, still holding On’s hand.

”Good to know we’re not the only ones,” Ivils says with a smile, “Anyone seen Off and Hopeless?”

Everyone in the group looks at each other. “No...?” Sympathy says.

”Don’t think so. I’m surprised I didn’t. I covered a lot of ground before I found Sympathy not too long ago.”

The group hears quiet talking in the distance. Ivils looks behind a tree obstructing his view to see Off and Hopeless walking along the coastline. Ivils holds up his torch and waves it like a beacon. “Over here!” He shouts. Off and Hopeless as well as the rest of the wishmakers meet up in the middle of their original paths and exchange sighs of relief and glad-to-see-you’re-not-hurt-s. As the soft chirping of crickets and a darkening sky signify the coming of night, Ivils erects a campfire for everyone to sit inside to wait out the first night.


	5. What Now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NIGHT 1

As the darkness sets in and a campfire is lit, the wishmakers sit around the light. Ivesa lay on On’s lap, dozing off while On gently pet her head. Hopeless sat with his knees up, hunched over and staring blankly at the flickering flame. Sympathy and Off sit opposite each other and avoid eye contact, save for Off staring at Ivils’s tense expression as Ivils poked at the fire. Normally, if all six of them were sat around like this, it wouldn’t be _this_ quiet. Sympathy and Off would’ve definitely been throwing insults, if not fists at each other. Ivesa would try to break up the fight while On tried to convince Ivesa to stop. Ivils and Hopeless would know better than to try to break it up themselves. If there wasn’t an immediate fight, the results would’ve been completely different from both the fighting scenario and their current scenario. This one was an eerie silence as bugs chirped quietly in the distance and the crackle of the campfire almost sounded like a slow clap, sarcastically congratulating them on surviving their first day.

The silence is finally broken by Ivils. “So, what now?”

”Whaddaya mean, ‘what now?’” Off asks.

”Is anyone who is experiencing deja vu have any feeling about where the exit might be?” Ivils asks, “I remember a lot about this place—The Constant—but I haven’t remembered where the exit is yet.”

”I‘ve remembered nothing more than some basic knowledge,” Hopeless yawns, returning his focus back to the fire.

Ivils nods. “What materials do you guys have?” He lays out some of his supplies in front of him. A small pile of rocks and flint, a decent amount of sticks and grass, plenty of logs... Most members had the same type of materials. Some were missing one or two from Ivils’s pile. Then, On reaches into her backpack and is about to introduce some of her contributions.

”I stole this egg. The mother chasing me almost got to me.” She lifts the egg out of the backpack.

Ivils holds the large blue egg and nods. “A tallbird egg! Anything else—?” As Ivils held the egg, it moves in his hands. He hums in confusion and stares at the egg. It moves again and the egg pips, causing small cracks to run along the shell from the point of the egg. Ivils quickly hands the egg back to On, softly laughing, “Well, I guess you have a _small_ bird on the way.”

On glares at Ivils, holding the egg in her bosom. _Could’ve eaten that_ , she thinks to herself, dusting off the egg.

”Why not come up with jobs for us to do?” Sympathy asks, “Better than seeing what we have so far.”

Ivils’s eyes light up. “Good idea. Does anyone want to volunteer to do a job? Wood? Food?” Everyone slowly turns their heads to Ivils and stares. “...Harvesting. ...What?”

”I’ll take care of the wood.” Sympathy pipes up, “I’ll do it since just about everyone else wants to wait until their Creators get here.” He stands up, picks his axe up, and rests it on his shoulder. “I can prove that they’re not coming to get us.” He takes his axe off his shoulder and points it at Off. “If that were the case, we wouldn’t be here right now—“

”Oh yeah? What if I wanted you to suffer like I did?” Off stands up and approaches his creation.

”We can’t be sitting ducks, Off! Did you forget your one core belief?” Sympathy holds his axe closer to his body and smirks. “Your. Creator. Isn’t. Coming. Back.”

”You _**dare**_ disrespect me?! _I_ am _your_ Creator!” Off’s eyes turn black, save for his left eye flickering between red and cyan, “I brought you into this world and I won’t hesitate to take you out!”

”Hot Topic! Spencer’s! Knock it off!” On yells, accidentally waking Ivesa. Everyone takes cover on the opposite side of the fire.

”Then fucking do it, coward!” Sympathy lifts his axe.

Off moves his hands back to gather magic, but the amount he can manifest is less than a sixteenth of his original power. He gathers all of his willpower to try to get more magic power, but a searing pain storms up from his hands to his arms. He screams from the initial pain as his entire body becomes enveloped in a shadow like a silhouette. A horrific call rings throughout the night as the source moves toward Off at breakneck speed. A horrific blow to Off’s torso sends him flat on his back. Thankfully, the shadow covering him melts away into the ground.

“Holy shit!” Sympathy drops his axe and runs for his creator. “What the fuck was that?!”

Wincing in pain from Sympathy’s efforts, Off shouts, “Don’t fucking touch me!” He slowly tries to stand himself up. Sympathy backs away as Hopeless and Ivils rush in on either side to help him stand. It didn’t take anyone long to notice the large scar on his chest. Sympathy puts more wood on the fire as Off is laid back down. At this point, everyone is surrounding Off. Ivils swiftly removes his mittens and opens up the tear in Off’s shirt to get a better look at the injury. While it definitely looked painful and could be potentially lethal, it wasn't bleeding much anymore, if it was even bleeding at all. He hovers his frigid hand over Off’s chest in an attempt to heal it to no avail. Ivils huffs in frustration.

”Will Off-oji be okay?” Ivesa asks with trembling hands.

Ivils yanks Off’s scarf off of him and wraps it tightly around his chest and over the wound to cover it. “He’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t do that again. Hear that, Off?”

Off laughs. “Yeah, all it takes for you to rip my shirt off is to have ‘the shadow monster’ fuck my chest up.” He laughs harder as Ivils rolls his eyes and steps back, putting his mittens back on.

”Off, this is serious. I can’t have you flirting with me the whole time.”

”Oh, come on, Iv. Remember what you said before you flipped the switch?” Ivils flinches.

**_”‘It’s not like we could die, right?’”_ **


	6. Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY 2

_Unfamiliar... white.. or was it familiar? It was hazy to Off. On second thought, he realized he could stand up. While walking around an empty white void, Off occasionally felt a frigid hand brush against his face and neck. “Off...” Off looks around for the source of the voice calling his name. “Off...”_

_Off replied to the breathy, airy, dreamy voice, “Who’s there?” He puts a hand to his chest, feeling the scarf still there._

_The voice only replied, “Off...” a pink and blue cloud manifests in front of him. The source of the voice approaches him and touches his face again. Off could feel his knees buckling as he floated down onto his back. The haziness was less apparent as the cloud had become a more coherent shape._

_”Ivils?” Off looks up at the shape who looked awfully similar to him. A cold finger is brought to his lips in response._

_”Off...” Ivils responds. Was this happening? Off wondered. Was this a dream come true? Off recoils as one of Ivils’s fingers traces the large scar on his neck._

_”Not there, Iv.” Off requests giddily, feeling his face flush a shade of lavender. He tries to raise his head up to kiss Ivils, but his head is forced back down._

_”Off...?” Ivils reaches up to Off’s mask and moves it higher up his face, obstructing his view and revealing his mouth. Off trembled in excitement as he could feel Ivils’s weight increase on his torso. Off closed his eyes, waiting for what he’d been longing for for years..._

”OFF!” On delivers a swift kick in the face for Off. Off yells from both the sudden impact and pain. He instinctively shields his face and sits up.

”WHAT THE FUCK?!” He yells. Did he pass out from the pain last night? Did he end up dying but came back?

”On, you really should not do that!” Ivesa squeaks. “You should be more gentle!”

”Sorry, force of habit.” On laughs. “At least he’s up now.”

Off rubs the part of his face that was kicked, already sore to the touch. Oh yeah, that was going to be a bruise, he thinks. “What do you need me for?”

”Ivesa wanted to know if you wanted to pick flowers with her.” On says, taking out a pick-axe. “I guess I’m out on boulder duty for today.”

”What’s everyone else doing? I must’ve passed out last night.” Off stands up and brushes himself off.

”Ivils and Sympathy are out chopping trees, Hopeless is seeing if he can scavenge anything, and you and Ivesa are getting small materials like twigs and grass.”

”You’re leaving Hopeless alone like that?” Off wipes his face free of drool. “How do you know he won’t—?”

”He made a promise to all of us. You weren’t awake for that.” On approaches Ivesa and gives her a gentle peck on the cheek. “I’m headed out, okay dear?”

Ivesa smiles and waves her partner goodbye, “Good luck!”

The wishmakers head out southeast of their initial location. The sun beats down on them, but it doesn’t feel as bad as they thought it would. Birds chirp while the two walk past more trees, boulders, and the occasional sapling, all while Ivesa keeps an eye on Off. His eyes darted around, first at a tree, then at a bush, then at another tree. He tightly grips his long black sleeves. Suddenly, Off turns around and stands defensively, eyes wide.

”Are you okay, Off-oji?” Ivesa asked.

”Huh?” Off directs his attention from something behind them back to her. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

”Creator acts like you sometimes. Are you seeing something you shouldn’t be?” She hesitantly asks, flinching immediately after her question.

”Actually?” Off looks back at the horizon and blinks, then he looks around in a mild panic. “Yeah.”

Ivesa nods as if she’s following a script, “You should pick some flowers, Off-oji. Ivils-oji told me that picking flowers eases the nerves.” She tenderly grabs Off’s scarred hands and leads him to a bright green field. There’s plenty of flowers dotting the field with yellows, whites, pinks, and reds. “I will be fetching twigs and grass. When you have enough for a bouquet, come see me.” She bows and smiles with a sickly sweetness that churned Off’s stomach... or maybe he was getting a little hungry.

”Right, ok.” Off responds. He heads to where there’s more flowers and starts picking them. The first one he picked looked like a red lily with a white pistil. It didn’t look very impressive, so he gave it a quick sniff. He almost instantly recoils from the intense floral smell and coughs in some pathetic attempt at getting rid of the smell. How was it that he didn’t smell it until it was an inch away from his face? He was surprised the entire field didn’t smell like cheap perfume sprayed directly in his face. Holding the flower at a distance, he approaches an orange lily and plucks the flower out of the ground. He plucked another flower, hoping that not all flowers were like that. He was proven wrong. While the flowers’ fragrance nauseated him, his headache was definitely getting better. He continues to pick more flowers.

A few minutes had passed and Off had picked all the flowers in the field. He held out the giant mess of flowers in front of him. He had to admit, it was impressive. He returns back to where he last saw Ivesa. He spots her sitting daintily on the grass, picking the petals off of a flower that had bloomed next to her. Ivesa looks up and waves Off down. “There you are! I’d like to teach you something!” She pips.

Off sits down next to her, setting down the massive amount of flowers. “Like what?” He asks coldly.

”Flower crowns!” She smiles and takes two of Off’s flowers, “Now, watch this.” She takes the stem of one of the flowers and creates a small slit in one of the stems. “Like this. Are you following along?”

Off reaches for two flowers of his own and follows Ivesa’s instructions. “Am now.”

Ivesa slips the stem of the other flower into the slit of the other. “Like that. Then repeat.” She begins working at an alarming speed, threading the flowers together. Off struggles to knit the flower stems into each other, but he manages.

Some time passes and Off finally makes a flower crown. Ivesa giggles and puts the finished result on Off’s head. Off reaches to take it off, but is stopped by Ivesa.

”Keep it on. You’ll feel better.”

Off huffs angrily, but obliges. His headache wasn’t bothering him anymore, but there was something else that was lingering in the back of his mind. It was like a tiny voice whining in the dark corner of his mind.It whispered to him...

_Grrrooowlll..._

Before Off could concentrate on the nagging in his own head, a disturbingly loud growl has him on alert. Ivesa flushes a bright purple and hides her face.

”Oh, dear! I’m so sorry! I’m very hungry.” She laughs nervously.

Off takes the multitude of unused flowers and stashes them away. “Let’s find something to hold us over. There’s gotta be something.” Off stands up and helps Ivesa to her feet. “I think I saw some berry bushes earlier.”


	7. Only You Can...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAY 2.5

_Chop_

_Chop_

Ivils and Sympathy tirelessly swing their axes at the trunks of evergreens deep into the heart of the forest. While the sun beat down on them, a pleasantly cool breeze kept them at a comfortable temperature while they worked. A small crow distracts Sympathy from his work for a second.

_Chop_

_..._

Ivils stops his own work to check in on Sympathy. “Why’d you stop?”

Sympathy snaps himself out of his trance and gives Ivils a reassuring smile. “Nothing. Just a crow. It’s kinda creepy how many crows there are in this world, isn’t it?”

Ivils nods and looks around. “From what I remember, there’s no more than five species of bird; I think two of them are flightless.” His gaze drifts upwards to the top of the tree the other wishmaker was chopping down, where a crow was perched on one of the highest branches. “Seeing as they’re an omen of death for humans, it does make this place feel a lot gloomier.”

”Didn’t you say this whole place was made by a human?” Sympathy asks, taking another swing at the tree.

”I believe so,” Ivils says, picking his axe back up and taking one final swing at his own tree. The evergreen falls over with a satisfying crash as it chopped itself up to bits. Three logs and a handful of pine cones. “Creator never told me much about the days we used to spend here. What She did tell me was that my old captor was a human.”

”Does She still have control over this realm, then?” Sympathy asks while stalling on his current work, “Doesn’t She live among humans in Kwïhajïpalo?”

Ivils perks up and nods, “Yes,” He picks up and puts away his loot and brings out a shovel. “Been doing your research, I see.”

The other one leans against his worn axe and looks around the mildly deforested area around him, another crow catching his eye. “Yeah. Off never told me anything about our legends and history and all that jazz. All he told me was that Creator had _supposedly_ abandoned us.”

”That’s Off for you,” Ivils says, digging up the tree stump and putting away the last log, “Some days I wonder what would happen if he was a little more open-minded.”

Sympathy doesn’t reply. He sighs silently and looks down at the ground. He knew what would’ve happened. He frowns and looks back up at the tree he was cutting down, the crow staring directly at him. He leers at the crow and takes another swing at the tree, causing the crow to fly away, cawing out of frustration. _Stupid Off, screw him_. He makes another few chops before the tree falls, dissipating into nothing but two logs and a pinecone.

Hopeless treads along a lonely dirt path in an area of shimmering golden grass. _Go scavenge for more materials_ , he was told. How foolish of them to leave him alone, if he hadn’t made that childish promise... Hopeless shakes his head. Didn’t matter. He made a promise for this one day; he wasn’t going to just disregard the promise and break it. Hopeless puts his hood over his head to shield himself from the sun. It slightly covered his eyes, but he didn’t care that much. Looking down with his hands in his pockets, he bumps into something big without even noticing it was there. After tripping backwards on his white cloak, he lifts his hood and looks at what he bumped into. The large, furry creature turned around and stood tall, making a perplexed murmured call. He froze and stared the creature in its big, soulless eyes as the smell of a barn hit him like a sack of bricks. What the hell was this? It wasn’t trying to kill him immediately, maybe it’s friendly? “Beefalo...” He mumbles to himself. The name made sense enough to him.

He stands up and dusts himself off. He has a better look at his surroundings. He was right in the middle of a whole herd of them. How the hell did he not see or even _smell_ them? He slowly brings a hand to the beefalo’s snout. “It’s okay... be gentle...” The beefalo sniffs his hand for a few seconds, then becomes disinterested, lowering its head for another bite of grass. He slowly moves to the side of the beefalo and gently places his hand on its side. The beefalo flinches at Hopeless’s touch; it looks to the side and stares at him. He slowly places his hand back on the beefalo’s side and gently pets it. With a few strokes, the furry beast yawns loudly and continues chewing grass. He then places his other hand on the beefalo’s side. _So fluffy, so soft_... Then he presses his face against the beefalo’s side and gives it a half-hug. He could fall asleep against it. The smell didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would; it was almost comforting in a certain way. A memory resurfaces and he steps away from the beefalo. He tries to physically shake away the sad memory to no avail. He takes one last look at the sky, noticing the sun beginning to set, and puts his hood back over his head. _The farmlands, the blue sky, a young teen in a navy blue jacket with a weak smile on her face_... Tears stream down his face while he takes the long trek back. Hopefully, he’d get back before night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kwïhajïpalo (kwee-ha-gee-pa-low): Realm of Reality, origin of all Worldbuilders such as Creator


	8. Solace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUSK 2

Hopeless returns to the meetup spot. No one else is around as the sky flares a bright orange. With the materials he’d been lent last night, he lights a campfire as if it was a signal to come back. The wishmaker sits down and stares at the fire. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t giving off any smoke. If he didn’t think that was weird enough, the actual wood didn’t have burning coals in and around the actual fire. Nothing about it was glimmering or glistening. It was just light emitted from a fire on top of wood. Some pocket universe this was...

A rapid pace of footsteps alerts Hopeless to their presence. On dashes out of the trees and stops on a dime inside of the clearing. She’s panting heavily and covered in fresh bite marks and slashes. In her hand is her spear on the verge of falling apart. Hopeless looks at her with deep concern. “Are you okay?”

”Fuck that, check out what I got.” On opens her backpack and tips it over to spill the contents inside it. Spider silk, spider glands, and lots of odd, purple meat.

The other wishmaker glances over On’s pile of loot. “I don’t think we could make good use of the meat.”

”Of course you can.” On sneers, “Just put it on a stick and roast it. What do you think I ate in between waves of giant spiders?”

Hopeless grows increasingly worried, “Not raw, right?”

”Raw? Hell no,” she recoils at the thought, “Can’t stand that texture. I don’t even think it’s edible raw. Looks weird.”

”That’s what I was worried about.” Hopeless nods, “It’s purple, implying it has purple blood. There’s only two species I know of that possess purple blood, and the Sanghe—“

Before Hopeless could finish his statement, someone yells in the distance, “WHO WANTS NEÄ?” The two already at camp look opposite of the setting sun. Off and Ivesa, both wearing flower crowns, are rushing back to base and carrying a large amount of food in their arms.

”Did you get grass and twigs, Off?”

Off beams, the small pinpricks in his eyes in a slight heart shape. “Of course, but we got food, too.”

”I heard Off-oji yelling at something. It sounded like he was having fun.” Ivesa giggles.

Off frowns momentarily, “I’m telling you, those frogs are not as peaceful as they look. Those fuckers _hurt_!”

Hopeless and On laugh to themselves. “I’ll take care of the hunting next time, Off.” On takes out a handful of rocks, “I’ve got plenty of rocks now; I’m surprised I can even hold this many. You’re also pretty dinged up; take it easy, will ya?”

”Ugh, I guess.” Off takes out a stick and a piece of flint to fashion a point out of the stick. Ivesa sits down, setting her bounty in her skirt, and begins to also whittle away at a stick.

The final set of two footprints thump towards the camp, logs in tow. By the time that Ivils and Sympathy returned, the wonderful smell of food cooking on the humble campfire wafted in all directions, making it nearly impossible to not find them. Other than some embarrassingly loud stomach growls, it was very quiet. As the sky becomes pitch black and stars sprinkle themselves into the night, the remaining birds that were chirping flew away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neä (neh-ay): food


	9. Whispers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NIGHT 2

Crickets chirping, quiet snoring, the occasional hiss of a spider nearby, and now two voices mumble in the dark.

”No one else is awake, right?”

”No, I don’t think so.”

Sympathy and Hopeless lay on their backs, staring up at the starry sky. Hundreds, if not thousands of stars dot the sky, more are visible than what they would normally see, even in the middle of nowhere. It was like staring up at a glittering cloud in the sky. A sky with no resemblance to Earth’s and with no constellations.

”Could you imagine seeing this? Imagine being Kwïäto flying through space in a sky just like that, finding the perfect planet, and adding a touch of life for it to develop on its own.” Sympathy mumbled. The other’s only response was a weak hum of acknowledgement. “If only our magic was at its peak here, we could do just that, right?” Hopeless doesn’t respond. He stares up at the endless sparkling and glittering void of space. He could almost feel the chill of winter as a fading memory of his resurfaces. Sympathy nudges Hopeless’s shoulder. “Wanna do that when we get out of here?”

Hopeless smiles, his eyes lightly squinting. “That’d be nice.”

”You don’t have to. If no one else wants to, I’ll do it myself. It’d be a crazy trip, so I get if you don’t want to do it, Hope.”

”I’ll do it,” Hopeless looks back at Sympathy, “If it’s just with you.”

Sympathy blinks, his pinprick pupils flickering the same way the stars are. “Why just me? I thought you liked the others too.”

”I just want to do it with you is all. I mean, you mean more to me than ink does to a Worldbuilder.” Hopeless sighs.

”Do I really?” Sympathy frowns and stares back at the sky. “Off seems to think otherwise—“

”Off is Off. He wants to push himself into the lives of people he once cared about so they never forget about him and how they once meant so much to him.” Sympathy has another look back at Hopeless. He never thought about it that way, but it did make sense to him. “I gave him a chance long ago. If you look past the decades worth of broken glass, you’ll find a gorgeous diamond in the center. If someone like you can rise from someone like him, there is hope that he can change.”

”I don’t think you know Off that well, Nene.” Sympathy brings his arms behind his head and lightly crosses one leg over the other. “I’ve been trying for years and he still doesn’t listen. Dude’s like a brick wall.”

The cloaked one shakes his head, “He treated you like a father would to his son. That’s a different dynamic compared to two friends.”

An eerie silence falls upon them. The comparison was unbearably uncomfortable to hear. Sympathy physically cringes at the thought. _Like a father..._ Silently, both of them seem to agree to not mention the comparison ever again. Instead, the crickets continue to chirp, the other Wishmakers’ dull snoring remains at a light cacophony, and the occasional spider hiss could be heard through the trees.

...

_snap_

In the midst of falling asleep, Sympathy is awoken by a broken twig. His eyes dart back and forth, but is completely unable to move. He attempts to sit up to no avail. A slight sound could just barely be heard, and he tries to listen closely. It was hard to make out, but the rhythmic sound of grass being brushed past was unmistakable: footsteps. It wasn’t the absurdly fast stomps of the shadow monster that attacked Off, it was slower, like a person walking at a brisk pace. Sympathy strains himself to attempt to move. Nothing, not even an inch. The steps begin to slow as they approach him further. A stinging pain sears through his chest and up his neck. He gets a chill unlike anything he’d felt before as something began to touch his soul. He didn’t know of anyone else who was capable of such power. They weren’t even that close and a sinking feeling already overwhelmed him as some magical being toyed and prodded at his stained glass soul, some powerful being, some _menacing_ being.

The footsteps stop right above his head as he lay paralyzed on the ground. Some sort of white cloak moving ethereally in the still night air is just barely visible from the light of the cutout fire. The figure takes one smaller step closer to the crown of his bald head and bends slightly to look at him. The female figure couldn’t be less than a foot shorter than him. She had long black horns that curled around her large, draconic ears. Her brown hair cut into a bob floats beside her face, or lack thereof. Where her eyes should be was smooth and her mouth didn’t look like it could open. She looked like someone had painted over a doll’s face in cyan, magenta, yellow, and black stripes. The girl, who now smelled strongly of cinnamon, tilted her head just slightly enough that the light of the dying fire reflected off of her glasses, obstructing her face further. Sympathy could do nothing but stare horrified. He couldn’t even tremble.

”You’re doing well, 19F.” The girl says in a droning monotone. Her face doesn’t change as she speaks. “I’ve heard that 19C is bothering you, is it not?”

Sympathy gathers his strength and focuses on using telepathy to speak; it was how the other Wishmakers spoke, after all. He just couldn’t lip-sync it, which made this entire experience uncomfortable. “A little bit.”

”Only a little?”

“Who are you? Can you stop touching me like that?” Sympathy stutters. Even using telepathy, his distress is impossible to hide.

The black stripe on her face blinks crimson red for a moment, “Why should I stop?” For once, a little emotion could be heard in her voice, but it didn’t sound good.

”It hurts,” he whimpers, “Please... let go.”

The mysterious goddess holds her hand out in front of her, palm up, then clenches her fist tightly. An electrifying pain shoots through his torso up to his extremities, causing his paralyzed body to tense up. His eyes roll in the back of his head and his mouth opens into a silent scream. After what felt like hours, she lets him go. Sympathy’s heavy, raspy breathing is all that is heard. “Let me ask you again,” She leans down further, bent at the waist, “is 19C bothering you?”

Through his labored breathing, Sympathy replies, “Yes.”

“I’m assuming you would like to leave, yes?”

Sympathy hesitates on his answer. He stares at her hand, still held out in front of her, then he stares at her featureless face. There were only two answers to this question. “No.”

” _Wrong_.” She clenches her fist again and Sympathy’s entire body tenses again. What felt like needles were piercing every pore in his body. When the soul-induced pain was over, the goddess stares blankly at Sympathy. “Your soul says otherwise. Do you want to go home?”

Weakly, Sympathy responds, “Yes.”

“Good. I will have a talk with the big man upstairs and make sure he lets you all go shortly.” The goddess takes a step back and puts her hand behind her back. Sympathy sighs in relief. “But do not get lazy. I don’t know how long it’ll take.” The girl walks the other way, footsteps fading into the forest. “Ajïko.”

A quiet poof later and Sympathy regains control of his body. He sits up and looks at the source of the quiet “poof” noise. Wherever she went, a cloud of red smoke and the smell of cinnamon remained. ”Ajïko...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kwïäto (kwee-ay-toe): alt. spelling for Creator  
> Nene (nen-eh): friend  
> Ajïko (ah-gee-co): goodbye


	10. Seeing is Believing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAY 3

Ivesa’s eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the still dark sky. Getting up, she sees a figure pacing around the perimeter of the fire pit wielding a spear. Ivesa rubs her eyes and looks at the other wishmaker pacing to make sure she wasn’t seeing anything. It was On pacing around the fire. The smell of cinnamon lingered in the air, setting off the former maid’s fight or flight response.

On’s dead and tired eyes scan the area before setting on Ivesa. “Whatchu awake for?” On asks, trying to keep a kind smile, “Did I wake you?”

”No.” Ivesa mumbled.

On‘s knuckles turned even whiter as she tightly gripped her spear. She looks around once again, her pinpricked eyes twinkling like the stars in the sky. The crescent moon reflected off of her large eyes as she brushed her bangs to the side. “I saw _Her_. I heard Her monologuing by Sympathy. Whatever’s gonna happen is not good.”

Ivesa stands up and joins On in guarding the camp, only holding an axe she was lent. “Did you hear what She was saying?”

The other girl nods, “Something about leaving. When everyone else wakes up, I’m going to make sure that Sympathy does _not_ leave alone. Something bad is going to happen. I can feel it.” She looks up to the horizon at the steadily rising sun.

Ivesa follows her gaze. “Did the sun always rise that fast?” She asks as the sun climbs at an unusually fast pace over the trees in the distance.

”Looks like it. At least it rises that fast here.” A small noise is heard between the couple and On spins around as fast as lightning. She points her spear towards the sound only to see that it’s Ivils stretching.

”Shit, did I scare you?” He asks, instinctively raising his hands in front of himself after being met face-to-face with On’s spear.

She lowers her weapon, then points it towards Sympathy. “Looked like Sci was talking to him in the night. Before I was able to attack Her, She disappeared. I’ve been up ever since.”

Ivils frowns. “On, don’t hype yourself up over anything. You’re probably seeing things.”

”Seeing things?!” On yells, “She was right there next to Sympathy! She was disturbing the grass and twigs around Her!”

Sympathy sits up, rubbing the gunk out of his eyes, confused. “What’s going on?”

On takes a deep breath and drops her spear upon exhaling. She glares daggers into Ivils and then kneels down next to Sympathy. “Did you see anyone last night?”

Sympathy blinks, still half asleep. He spins his head around slowly, blinking even more and barely able to keep his eyes open for more than a second. The few who were awake remained still for a few seconds, awaiting a response. “I had a weird dream last night, but I didn’t see anyone.”

On resists the urge to punch the least experienced wishmaker in the jaw. She clenches her fists and teeth before easing all tension in her body. “Maybe you’re right, Ivils.”

The unofficial leader smiles lightly. “You can’t be too stiff all the time. How about you go with Ivesa today? I’ll bring Sympathy with me again—“

Off, who was only pretending to be asleep, darts up on his hands and knees. “Hey! Why can’t I go with you?”

Ivils rolls his eyes. “I need you to go with Hopeless. There’s no telling if he really took that promise to heart. If he won’t listen to me, he’ll definitely listen to you.” He hands the masked man a pickaxe, which Off reluctantly takes. “See if you can find something of use out there. Maybe try to look for some sinkholes in the east?”

Off groans like a lazy, angsty teenager while holding the pick. “Fine.” He gets up and approaches Hopeless.

Ivesa puts her axe away and looks to Ivils. “And what should we do, Ivils-oji?”

Ivils stands and ponders for a moment. “Go see what’s further south. We need to cover more ground. Sympathy and I are going to chop more trees. We’ll need lots of wood for the future.”

Ivesa and On nod and head south of the fire pit. “Yes, sir!”


	11. Speak for the Trees

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAY 3.5

“Can I tell you a secret?” Sympathy asks, briefly stopping his work done on yet another tree.

Ivils stops as well and turns around, his eyes soft with concern. “Of course.”

Sympathy takes one more swing at his current tree, which falls lightly to the ground and spreading pine needles in a green cloud. “I had a weird dream, or sleep paralysis, or something.” He walks over to his newly shattered tree and picks up the remaining logs and sole pine cone. “I saw a girl. I don’t remember much, but she definitely didn’t have a face. She looked like—“

”Like someone painted over a doll’s face?” The leader finishes the sentence.

Sympathy turns back to his friend, “Yeah. Like that.”

The two stare in silence. A chill runs down both of their spines from a sudden gust of cold air. The sun’s rays are blocked by clouds, chilling the summer air further. What feels like a thousand eyes are staring at them in judgement, as if to ask why Sympathy would respond positively to such a question. The leader gathers the courage to speak once again. “Did She have horns?”

The other man picks up his axe and approaches a smaller tree. “I think so? Is that bad?”

Ivils feels his heartrate increase as Sympathy proceeds in chopping down another evergreen. “If I’m being honest, you might be in trouble since you saw Her.”

Sympathy laughs. “Who are you talking about? Who exactly is that dangerous?”

Ivils looks around, premonition causing his mind to race. “Sci.”

”Sci?! You mean—?”

Ivils nods quickly, “Yes! She was the one who had me pull the switch!”

”Oh shit,” Sympathy stops just before the pine tree he was making work of would be able to fall, “She asked me if I wanted to leave, but She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

The sinking feeling in Ivils’s gut grows stronger, bringing him to the brink of nausea. “I hope nothing happens—to you, that is.”

Sympathy takes another swing as he speaks, “The worst part?” He takes another swing, bringing the tree down. “She wouldn’t stop doing something with my Soul—“

A flurry of birds fly away from deeper within the deforested area, chirping and cawing frantically. The ground shakes from a previously unknown threat. Topsoil churns as giant tree roots free themselves from their earthy prison. A large evergreen suddenly stands far above all the other trees. Two large branches function identically to arms as it brings them to the air. Soulless black eyes stare down as if it was a guardian of the forest that had decided to make itself known to the two smaller gods. Judging by the downturned corners of its pitch black maw, it was not happy. The two Wishmakers stare up in awe of this massive tree guardian.

”What the fuck is that?!” cries Sympathy.

Ivils’s wide eyes stare in horror of their mistake to deforest an entire area. ”Treeguard...” He takes a few steps back, holding his hands to the air only to see that the guardian was not looking at him, but rather at a set of fast-moving footprints. Ivils breaks eye contact and looks to see who was crazy enough to fight this monster, only to look at the empty space beside him, devoid of Sympathy. He shouts, “Sympathy!”

The less experienced of the two knew no fear. He rushed at the guardian with his axe and began to strike at its feet. The treeguard lifts one arm above its head and strikes downward, barely missing the green blur at its feet. Sympathy laughs, yelling jeers at his foe and continuing to slash at its legs.

”Sympathy! Stop! We can’t take that thing down!” Ivils yells, taking a few more cowardly steps back.

“If no one else will, I’ll do it myself!” He retorts with a snarky grin across his face. The treeguard makes another slash, this time making a direct hit on his back. Sympathy is flung forwards from the attack as multiple gashes on his back begin to ooze deep purple blood.

Ivils rushes for his injured friend before he actually gets up himself, grabs his axe, and charges at the treeguard once more.

” _ **Are you out of your mind?!**_ ” He asks, holding his head in his hands, unsure of what to do.

” **ONLY A LITTLE BIT!** ” Sympathy take several more swings, but something looks strange to the other. It didn’t look like the tiny bit of sunlight shining on the axe as he swung it around without rhyme or reason, but it looked more... orange... and it looked brighter...

It looked more like... sparks...

Then it looked like...

 _Flames_...


	12. ...Prevent Forest Fires

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUSK 3

The sky turns bright orange as the sun sets behind an unusually cloudy sky. Two sets of footprints are walking along a path. Ivesa smiles as she holds On’s tense hand closer to her. She looks to her girlfriend with concern. “Is there something wrong, On?”

On shakes her head, slinging her backpack on one shoulder. “It’s about Sci. I should be fine. What about you?”

Ivesa frowns, hesitating and stumbling over her words, “I’m not sure how well I’m doing out here...”

On brushes her hair out of her face and puts her free hand on Ivesa’s shoulder to gently rub behind her shoulders. “If the guys are scaring you, let me know, okay?”

She smiles and nods silently. As the pair tread further towards their fire pit, the smell of wood burning becomes more prevalent. Silently, they look at each other as if to wonder the same thing: who’s already back? It’s too early for that.

A loud yell startles them. Ivesa yelps and hides behind On as she takes out her spear. She lowers her spear as she comes to the realization that it’s Ivils, covered in soot and small burns. On and Ivesa rush over.

”Oh my god, are you okay?!” On shouts.

Through persistent coughs, Ivils responds in broken, panicked sentences, “Fire... Sympathy... Treeguard...”

”What’s going on?” Off shouts from behind the trio, Hopeless in tow.

”No time to explain; come on!” On barks, running the opposite direction Ivils came from.

Off and Hopeless group up with a lightly singed Ivils and follow behind the girls. The sight that greeted them was one of chaos. Smoke billowed from burning pine trees. Some of the trees that remained from where the treeguard stood were completely charred. The giant was also singed to an extent. At its feet, Sympathy continued to swing at the burnt beast while covered in bright purple burns of his own. For a moment, time looked like it had stopped. Sympathy glared up at the treeguard he summoned with crazed eyes and a wide grin. He held his damaged axe with both hands. In turn, the treeguard only stared at him. No one was sure of what to do, despite the obvious thing Sympathy needed: help.

Sympathy yells and charges at the treeguard. As he approached, it raised its clawed arm to swipe at its assailant. On drops her bag and rushed in to push Sympathy away from the definite hit of the giant, but it was too late. With one fell swoop, Sympathy was struck on the side and launched to the left of the beast. The sound of what could best be described as an electric guitar being broken rang in everyone’s ears. On is barely able to stop herself as he lands a couple feet away from her with a solid _thud_. She and Ivils rush over to Sympathy and a sinking feeling hits her from his lack of movement. She stares at the treeguard, ready to defend one of her few companions trapped here. The giant loses interest in the rest of them and limps in the direction opposite them. On looks back to Ivils, who is attempting to get a response out of him.

”Sympathy! Sympathy, get up!” Ivils shouts.

On kneels next to him as the rest of the group surrounds their mortally wounded friend. “Come on, say something. Do something! We can’t do this, not without you!”

For a moment, Sympathy smiles in response. A collective sigh of relief is released. Just as everyone was glad Sympathy was hanging on by a thread, Ivesa gasps in horror and steps back as the fresh gashes from Sympathy’s right side open slightly before his entire body disintegrated into sparkling gold dust within a matter of seconds. Everyone else mirrors her actions as what was left of him was nothing but his own supplies. A moment of silence hung over the rest of the collective. No wind, no crickets, no birds, no spiders, no sounds whatsoever. Their expressions of horror were perfectly encapsulated onto their faces. It was almost possible to hear the sound of the pounding heartbeat of the person next to them.

“I thought...” Ivils breaks the deafening silence, “I thought...”


	13. Dejection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NIGHT 3

_What are we gonna do? We’re down a set of extra hands, and a real good one, too. Damn it, I wish I could’ve known him better. Sure, one less mouth to feed, but it’s one less voice to hear. I can’t believe this actually happened. Does Ivils even know anything about this place? Can I even trust him if he knows Sci so well? I don’t care who this message goes out to, please get us out! I can’t stand half of these people!_

_Sympathy-oji... he’s dead? But Ivils-oji said we can’t die! Did he actually die? Is that how we die? We turn into a pile of glittery dust? No, Creator-ojo wouldn’t let us die like this. Creator-ojo, if you can hear me, please let me out! I don’t like this experiment anymore! I don’t like it! Help! HELP ME!_

_I was wrong? I thought we couldn’t! I just thought our creators brought us here for fun. Maybe to trigger past memories to see what would happen? Do our creators not care about us anymore? Is that why we’re here? Poor Sympathy. I could’ve saved him, but the flames were too much. If I ran in to save him, I don’t think either of us would’ve lived. He was too far out of it, and his magic got the better of him. Somebody, anyone, help us out of here!_

The cacophony of telepathic messages swarm the air around the trio by the campfire, but are not heard by the other two around them in fear of judgement. Ivils sits with his head in his hands. His tears roll off his cheeks from wide, fearful eyes. His labored breathing struggles to maintain a somewhat relaxed frequency. His body itched and burned from the new burns on him. On tightly holds Ivesa close, who is shaking and sobbing into her shirt. On herself is struggling to hold in tears as she rubs her back in an effort to comfort her. As their messages and prayers to unnamed, unknown saviors streak through the sky like meteorites and comets, they are absorbed by the darkness. 

_It’s a tragedy I never thought to imagine. The man I would’ve wanted to see the stars with is gone. Dead, like Her. I hope that in whatever afterlife they’ve gone to, they will care for each other. My tired soul can barely hang onto enough grief for the people I loved that I could save. There is but one more I live for. If anyone can hear me, save the rest; do not save me, for I do not deserve such niceties._

_He’s... gone... After humiliating myself, nearly starving to death, raising him as my own for a decade for him to leave me behind without a second glance. And yet I mourn. I mourn for the man I cared for when he could hardly speak before he spat insults back my way. I mourn for the man who listened to my every word before he disregarded my every remark. I mourn for the man who I sheltered from the rain before he wouldn’t hesitate to kick me out to the street. I cared for him, but he would later not care for me. Why is this so? Why do I mourn for a man who never cared about me? If someone out there is listening to my rants, please... save me._

Two cloaked men hover over the sparkling ashes of their fallen comrade. The glimmering of the flickering flames from a single torch illuminate two faces in the dark and their tears. Off’s mask is placed beside him while he kneels in front of the pile of glimmering dust, sobbing pathetically into his hands. Hopeless frowns for him, wrapping his arm around him with tears streaming down his face as well. Their telepathic calls for help are not much different from the trio by the fire, as they are also consumed by the threatening darkness.


	14. Ohne Grund

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAY 5  
> Title: without reason

“It’s my fault!” Off shouts, swinging his spear at a nearby boulder, sending sparks flying from the flint hitting stone. “If no one else was going to help him, I should’ve been the one to die!” Off continues to strike the boulder to ease his persistent grief, leaving deep grooves in the stone and releasing a shower of sparks with each hit.

Hopeless observed him from a short distance. His tired eyes were focused on the tip of the spear, rhythmically following it up and down, up and down. “Is that how you feel?” He asked.

”Is it?!” He screams, “Take one goddamn, motherfuckin look at me, Hopeless. How _do_ I feel?” He raises his spear one last time and smashes it into a pile of flint shards and wooden splinters. “If I wasn’t angry, would I do that?!”

Hopeless recoils in shock at the other’s fury as a few splinters leapt at him only to gently hit his face and cloak. “All of us could have done so. I could’ve saved him.” He mumbles shyly.

”Great! I can’t believe you saved him!” Off growls sarcastically through his teeth. “Oh, wait, you didn’t. It’s not like you really did much around here anyway. You never did, even before we got into this shithole.”

”Sorry,” Hopeless mumbles, looking down at his feet in shame.

”There’s no sorry-s around here, Hopeless.” Off firmly states. He turns away from the other man to get away.

”But Ivils was there before us. _He_ left him to die, not us.” Hopeless rebuts, grasping at straws.

Off whips his head around upon mention of Ivils. “At least Iv gave an attempt. Do his burns mean _nothing_ to you?”

Hopeless chokes on his words. No response. Off turns back around and walks further into the woods, leaving the man in the white cloak all alone. He checks the position of the sun as he stands in place. It was halfway to the top of the sky. Considering the strange cycle of day and night, it looks like it’ll take roughly an hour before he has to head back to the fire pit. He sulks his way over to the boulder Off was striking, covered in both grooves and veins of gold, and sits next to the broken spear. Glittering shards of the busted flint tip caught his eye, causing him to pick one up. It was part of the sharpened edge. If he tried hard enough, he would be able to tilt it in such a way that he could see his likeness in his reflection: three tired eye with glittering and glowing pupils, the dark circles under his eyes from years of light sleep, his small-ish nose which gave his uninteresting face a focal point, and his thin, slightly pursed lips which lightly expressed him. He rubs his eyes upon seeing how dark the bags of his eyes are, wondering how little sleep he’s gotten over the past few days.

**_Do it._ **

Hopeless drops the shard out of shock. He stares at it with wide eyes. The sight of deep purple fluid staining the silvery rock invaded his mind. The phrase repeats. **_Do it._** He sighs and picks up the shard. His vision blurs with tears as he holds up the shard. **_Do it._**

**_Do it._ **

**_DO IT._ **

”Not again.” Hopeless whimpers, curled up into a fetal position on the ground with his hood over his head. A familiar, chilling warmth drips from his arm, staining the black inside of his cloak. Why did Off turn on him like this? And why was he so cruel to him, the one person who would listen to Off’s bouts of anger?

“Something wrong?” On asks, noticing Ivesa’s tighter grip on her wrist.

Ivesa blinks and smiles weakly. “Oh, nothing. I think I felt something in the wind. It’s making me nervous.”

The other girl frowns, kneeling down to set up a bird trap. “You can tell me. You know I won’t judge you, honey.”

”Um... intuition? I don’t know the exact word I’m looking for.” Ivesa stutters.

”Premonition? That’s what it sounds like to me.” She answers, putting her hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry too much about it, okay? Whatever happens, I’ll protect you. Don’t forget that.”


	15. Intrusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAY 5.5

The man clad in pastel clothes and violet-stained bandages stood in the middle of the burnt forest by the spot where gold sparkles glittered brightest. All resources the late daredevil had gathered had been taken the day before. The only thing that remained at his gravesite was a single, charred axe. The original sorrow he felt looking at the grave no longer lingered even in the form of melancholy. He’d expected his face to tense in a familiar, saddened expression, but there was nothing. If anything, his sore arms ached not from chopping trees for two days straight, but from an unknown dissatisfaction. He didn’t want to run into the fire to save Sympathy. Maybe he wanted to fight alongside him? The treeguard did seem heavily injured afterwards. Looking around, he didn’t catch the guardian of the forest anywhere, let alone another living soul. His three eyes looked down at the damaged axe that served as a headstone. He kneels down to reach for it, but then he pauses. Something in the air disrupted the scent of charred wood ...Cinnamon?

”Hello, 19D1.”

Ivils screams as he scrambles back on his feet, fumbling with his spear before dropping it beside the shining ash. He looks up to see the source of the voice once again. A shorter female youth with twisting black horns stands before him with a completely blank face. Sci.

”Defacing graves, are we?” Sci’s face flickers bluish violet as she laughs in amusement.

He stutters, ”No! It’s not what it looks like!” Ivils holds his hands up in surrender and quakes in his chestnut-tinted boots.

She laughs again. “You are _too cute_ , 19D1.” Sci begins pacing around Ivils, who is frozen in fear. “Facades can only last so long in the wilderness.”

”But I have to!” Ivils whimpers, “We have to stand together; I’m the leader.”

The goddess stops in her tracks upon hearing the T word. “Together? Experiment C.19D1, you poor, poor thing. You’re not too far off from 19A in how much of a naïve _fool_ you are. It’s almost pathetic how similar you two are.”

”I’m not a fool! I’ve been here before, and I can lead them in the right direction to lead us out!” Ivils asserts despite his quaking knees and increasing doubt.

”Even after you asked the others about the way out? Even after you thought no one could die?” Sci leans in uncomfortably close while speaking in a sing-song tone.

Ivils shuts his blabbering mouth and gulps. Even at her much shorter stature; her expressionless, mannequin-like face; and her higher status horrified him. Thank god she was not his creator.

”I thought so.” She pulls Ivils in for a hug as her horns scratched at his ribs through his clothes. She sighs as her clawed fingertips scraped at his back. The taller man squirms within her arms. “You really are like a pillow, She wasn’t lying—“

A large, black shadow causes Sci to detach herself from around Ivils’s torso and fall onto the ground. As soon as her back made impact with the ground, a red cloud replaces her physical form and the scent of cinnamon seeps into the attacker’s black cloak.

”DAMN IT!” Off stands back up from a kneeling position to brush off grass from his hands and knees. He moves his twin-horned mask to the side and looks back to Ivils with a relieved expression. “Oh! Iv! Thank god! Did she hurt you? What did she say to you? Did she say anything important?” Off rushes over his own words as he hops towards Ivils.

Ivils takes a few steps back, but not before Off pulls him into a tighter, more invasive hug than what Sci was doing. This time, the more he struggled, the more Off metaphorically dug his claws into him.

”Man, I really saved your life there! Maybe you owe me a little somethin’-somethin’, you know?” Off grins devilishly as he pushes his face towards Ivils’s.

Ivils moves his head away as far away as he physically can, just out of reach of Off’s lips. “I don’t owe you anything. Not now, not after the work you’ve done, not even from before.” With brute strength, he frees one of his arms and pushes Off’s face away from his.

”Oh, _come on_! I did you a solid right there!” Off laughs, fixing his glasses and letting one half of his cloak slide down his arm to the elbow in some bizarre, film-noire-style method of flirting.

”Even if I did, you would be kissing me on top of Sympathy’s grave. How would he feel about _that_ , huh?!” Ivils snaps.

The cloaked man’s eyes burn bright red in hatred. “ **YOU KNOW WHAT? FINE! FUCK YOU, THOUGH. YOU KILLED HIM.** ” He slides his mask back into place, fixes his cloak, and heads back in the direction of camp. “ **I know you did.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As for why the dates are suddenly all over the place, I forgot when I published these on q lmao


	16. Talk It Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NIGHT 5

Lazily poking at the campfire, Ivils stares deep into the flames. The glittering embers at the base of the fire kept things lively, shifting from cold grey to hot yellow with a reddish in-between. Red... Just the thought of the color now was enough to make his mind race. Racing so fast he can’t even think about possibly sleeping. It’s been days since he even napped at all. Before anything else could come to his head, he takes a long, strained, deep breath consisting of half air half smoke. Fire, trees, moon, a particularly bright star, stray rock. _That’s good_ , he thought to himself. Grass, chilly summer night wind, warmth of the fire, clothes on his back. Once again, good. Crackling of the fire, crickets chirping...

“Fero?”

Ivils was about ready to spring to his feet, but sudden movement combined with healing burns made him grit his teeth together to stifle any sound he might’ve made. Hopeless, who was maybe a little too close for comfort, flinched back as well, tightly gripping the ends of his long white sleeves.

“ _No Kwïäto_ , don’t do that!” Ivils hisses. Upon seeing his comrade’s broken state, his face softened immediately. “Oh my god, are you okay?” He put down the stick, approached him, and hugged him tightly, “I’m sorry about that.”

The other man wasn’t even hugging back. “Can we talk? In private?”

Ivils pulled back and nodded, “Of course. I have a spare torch.” He reaches behind himself and pulls out a broken branch with a wad of grass stuck to the top. “Come on.” He stands up, dips the tip into the campfire, and makes his way to the edge of the glow of the campfire with a wilted Hopeless in tow.

They walked in a straight line towards the half moon in silence. The light of their torch lit the nonexistent path like a beacon. Ivils stopped walking a short distance away from the campfire. It was still within distance of the flame, but far enough so that no one from there should hear them speak. To avoid any more pain from his scorched back, Ivils remains standing with his torch and motions for Hopeless to sit on the grass. “Here is good,” he whispers, “What did you need to—?”

Without a word, Hopeless rolls up the large white sleeves of his cloak, then the sleeves of his pink sweater stained in deep purple blood. He holds his head down in shame as he holds out his scarred forearms with two fresh cuts on each.

Ivils frowns and shakes his head. “I’m sorry.” He slowly kneels on one knee and pulls out some bandages. “This might sting a little.”

“ _I’m_ sorry,” Hopeless echoed with tears in his eyes. Once the poultice made contact with his arms, he whimpered. Ivils gently wrapped his right arm, snipped the roll when he was done, then began wrapping the other arm.

“It’s not your fault, I know this.” Ivils said, “Off knows how to upset people. You’ve seen how he is with me, right?”

“Yeah?”

“He wants me to ‘join’ him so I can be his boyfriend, just another thing he can control. He’s doing something similar with you. You’re his personal, platonic punching bag.” Ivils finishes wrapping his Doppelgänger’s arm and stays kneeling, picking the torch off the ground. “Those kinds of people in your life are not healthy to keep around.”

“I know,” Hopeless mumbles. “I know you’ll say I can’t fix him, but I really think I can.”

Ivils pats Hopeless on the shoulder. “It’s those people you can’t fix. I can’t force you to stop contacting him, but you seem so surprised every time he hurts you. Especially after a traumatic event everyone experiences, we all get emotional.”

“Did you leave Sympathy to die?” Hopeless interjects.

”No!” Ivils gasps, “I really tried to help him, but if I kept going through the fire, I might not have come out. So, I came out to warn everyone else. Did Off tell you that?” Ivils sets the torch down again as he starts making a brand new one.

“Yeah. He also said I didn’t do good enough. Do good enough to help him.”

“We all wish we could’ve done more.” Ivils hums. “All we could do then was all we could do.”

Ivils slowly stands up with a new torch, tossing the dead one to the side. He silently beckons Hopeless to follow behind him. As he stares in the direction of the fire, he notices something he hadn’t before. Somehow, everything seemed more dull than it had before. He blinks a few times, thinking he was seeing things. Everything seemed to turn back to normal as he approached the small fire in the fire pit. He swiftly adds more tinder and logs to the fire to get it going back to its full glory. While he expected Hopeless to return to where he was earlier, he stuck by Ivils’s side.

And while one moment he was lying on his back and staring wide-eyed at the stars, the next moment he had passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -fero (feh-hhro): diminutive referring to someone as a child (not necessarily demeaning)
> 
> No Kwïäto (no quee-aye-toe): of Creator (as in “by god!”)


End file.
